Monday, July 31, 2006

Alas, an internet connection and a bit of time to explain my inexcusable absence from the blogging world! As some of you may know, my absence has been due to extended fieldwork missions in eastern Canada. My first project was in southern New Brunswick, collecting fossil fishes from the earliest part of the Carboniferous. The goal is to study the fish faunas that existed at that time and to understand how the vertebrate fauna turned over after the end of the Devonian. Of course, there is always the hope that one will find a tetrapod.

The site is relatively accessible and I'm not keen to inspire private collectors to poach the site, so my details will be limited. Most of the material is not really the envy of collectors as it is generally disarticulated, broken open in section, and ridiculously difficult to prepare. The fossils are found in shale beds that crop out in various parts of southern New Brunswick.

An outcrop of Carboniferous shale that is quite typical of the region. Fossil vertebrates appear to come from only a few restricted horizons in the formation.

The site is relatively rich and surprisingly more diversity is found here than we had previously expected from this fauna. Sadly, the tetrapod continues to elude us.

The partially articulated skeleton of an undetermined genus of lobe-finned fish is seen in section on the side of a large boulder.

Hopefully, the data from this work will help us understand both the diversity and paleoecology of vertebrates that lived shortly after the Devonian. This site has equivalent age counterparts all over the Atlantic provinces of Canada, each of which has different kinds of animals living in it. This could provide some information on how animals are distributed across different environments during this time which should be crucial in understanding what these ancient communities were like.

"ccc said...Man, I've love to be able to volunteer to help with that kind of thing. As a disabled person, I have the time.... but as a disabled person, I don't have the finances or ability to drive. :("

Can you swing a hammer? If you could, I am sure Martin and company could have used you...

That is so cool! I love to do fieldwork, I say it beats sitting in the lab any day. I'm doing research on polychaetes with my professor this summer, and the two days that we went to the coast to collect were, for me, the most fun out of the whole project.

I've added your blog to my blog links, if that's okay! I'm new to blogging, and I've been looking for interesting science blogs to link to. Can't wait to see more of your work! Good luck finding a tetrapod.

Cool site and congrats on blog-o-the week. As a layperson who is interested in science I enjoy your blogs because they are relatively approachable for someone unfamiliar with biology jargon. I've read a couple of articles from evolutionary biologists on edge.org and find the stuff fascinating. It's especially interesting because it disproves the common perception, promoted by creationists, that evolution theory is lacking evidence. From what I've read, while there may still be some "missing links" you guys are finding links all of the time. Continue the good work. If you get a chance checkout my blog on this site Ephemeralmind. No science but I do like to comment on the creationism versus evolution debate and other aspects of our crazy society.

oberon asked: "......lobe fin?.....is that like the coelacanth's fins....as opposed to ray fin?"

Yes, it is. Basically there are a series of bones in a fleshy lobe that are grouped as sarcops (which inclused what is commonly known as coelacanths as well as numerous other fish)...as opposed to the ray finned Actinops (which includes most of the modern boney fish you can think of)...

Martin: This lobed fish; did you say you found it in devonian shale? There is some of that in Ohio where I am from. It appears to have all the hallmarks of a vertebrate (precambrian or not). Diversity is such an interesting mystery. Why is there diversity when it could have gone on for so long with just trilobites?On Origin of Species is the work of a brilliant man but Darwin was wrong about a lot of things. Don't you agree? Oh, my family emigrated to newfounland in 1837 from germany. alternavent.blogspot.com

Interesting post. I don't really know what you call your occupation, but going to different places and checking out the wildlife sounds really cool! Maybe after you're done with that, you'd like to spend some time with the people from webdate.com! Apparently, they find people who're into ecology very attractive! Check them out someday.

Hello.Please let me introduce myself.I am a Fucktard who can't be bothered to read your blog, but will nevertheless implore you to post a link to my crappy blog.Also, whenever I think of Jesus, I get an erection.I like cats. I like archaelogy. My cat is an archaeologist. Whenever she thinks of Jesus, she defecates puppies.Chocolate puppies!

I really enjoy reading your blog. You have some great ideas and some i guess unique..lol.. if i were you i would go to http://www.autosurfmonster.com and submit this blog so thousands of others can see it for free. well i look forward to all the updates. thanks again,.

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About Me

Research Fellow at NCB Naturalis in Leiden, the Netherlands. My research interests include the fossil record and early evolutionary history of jawed vertebrates. The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of NCB Naturalis.